Repairing Jobs That Fail to Satisfy

Learning Goals Companies often divide up work as a way to improve efficiency, but specialization can lead to negative consequences. DrainFlow is a company that has effectively used specialization to reduce costs relative to its competitors’ costs for years, but rising customer complaints suggest the firm’s strong position may be slipping. After reading the case, you will suggest some ways it can create more interesting work for employees. You’ll also tackle the problem of finding people qualified and ready to perform the multiple responsibilities required in these jobs.

The ScenarioDrainFlow is a large residential and commercial plumbing maintenance firm that operates around the United States. It has been a major player in residential plumbing for decades, and its familiar rhyming motto, “When Your Drain Won’t Go, Call DrainFlow,” has been plastered on billboards since the 1960s.

Lee Reynaldo has been a regional manager at DrainFlow for about 2 years. She used to work for a newer competing chain, Lightning Plumber, that has been drawing more and more customers from DrainFlow. Although her job at DrainFlow pays more, Lee isn’t happy with the way things are going. She’s noticed the work environment +63

just isn’t as vital or energetic as the environment she saw at Lightning.

Lee thinks the problem is that employees aren’t motivated to provide the type of customer service Lightning Plumber employees offer. She recently sent surveys to customers to collect information about performance, and the data confirmed her fears. Although 60 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their experience and would use DrainFlow again, 40 percent felt their experience was not good, and 30 percent said they would use a competitor the next time they had a plumbing problem.

Lee is wondering whether DrainFlow’s job design might be contributing to its problems in retaining customers. DrainFlow has about 2,000 employees in four basic job categories: plumbers, plumber’s assistants, order processors, and billing representatives. This structure is designed to keep costs as low as possible. Plumbers make very high wages, whereas plumber’s assistants make about one-quarter of what a licensed plumber makes. Using plumber’s assistants is therefore a very cost-effective strategy that has enabled DrainFlow to easily undercut the competition when it comes to price. Order processors make even less than assistants but about the same as billing processors. All work is very specialized, but employees are often dependent on another job category to perform at their most efficient level.

Like most plumbing companies, DrainFlow gets business mostly from the Yellow Pages and the Internet. Customers either call in to describe a plumbing problem or submit an online request for plumbing services, receiving a return call with information within 24 hours. In either case, DrainFlow’s order processors listen to the customer’s description of the problem to determine whether a plumber or a plumber’s assistant should make the service call. The job is then assigned accordingly, and a service provider goes to the location. When the job has been completed, via cell phone a billing representative relays the fee to the service rep, who presents a bill to the customer for payment. Billing representatives can take customers’ credit card payments by phone or e-mail an invoice for online payment.

The Problem

Although specialization does cut costs significantly, Lee is worried about customer dissatisfaction. According to her survey, about 25 percent of customer contacts ended in no service call because customers were confused by the diagnostic questions the order processors asked and because the order processors did not have sufficient knowledge or skill to explain the situation. That means fully one in four people who call DrainFlow to hire a plumber are worse than...

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...BSG 302 – Organizational Behavior
RepairingJobs That Fail to Satisfy
(Case Study)
PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES:      To help students become aware of the complexity of human behavior in organizations. To help students deepen their understanding of group dynamics and organizational culture. To help students understand the importance of job satisfaction and incentive systems. To improve the students’ group and teamwork skills. To improve the students’ written and oral presentation skills.
PROCESS: 1. Form groups of three or four students. Please note that groups with less than three or more than four students are not acceptable. 2. Read and discuss the enclosed Case Study. 3. Complete the assignment at the end of the Case Study. Prepare a report in the form of a professional business document (up to 20 pts). 4. Prepare and deliver a 15-20 minute professional presentation, including the use of PowerPoint (up to 20 points). All members of the group have to participate in the presentation. GRADING: The group project will be evaluated on the basis of the logic and the quality of the messages, the judgment of the authors, the use of information sources, and the presentation quality. The maximum number of points a group can get for the Group Project is 40. Each individual student will receive the grade of the group, unless the majority of the group states in their report that a particular student did not...

...competitors due to poor services. Job motivation and satisfaction among employees is declining across various job categories within the firm. This dissatisfaction has been attributed to the overspecialization of some job functions in the company. The report attempts to assist DrainFlow improve in three key areas: job structure and design, incentive policies, and recruitment practices. It will go further to analyze the causes of the woes being faced by DrainFlow and provide a constructive recommendation on how to overcome them The main contents include an introduction to the problems DrainFlow is encountering, analyses of the current business, and recommendations on how DrainFlow can overcome these issues to foster a long-term competitive advantage.
2. Introduction
Research shows that a happy worker is a productive employee. Satisfied employees tend to be better at their workplaces. Many of the individual behaviors at the workplace are affected by job satisfaction The main contents include an introduction to the problems DrainFlow is encountering, analyses of the current business, and recommendations on how DrainFlow can overcome these issues to foster a long-term competitive advantage. The goal of this proposal is to provide recommendations for a new job structure, a new incentive structure, and new hiring practices. The job structure recommendations will allow for more...

...within teams, which can be harmful if not managed properly.
Another one is communication. In fact, effective teamwork is facilitated by clear and open communication. All team members should be on the same page with respect to targets, responsibilities and timelines. This cohesion is facilitated by effective communication. Academic commentators such as Sarah Holland, Kevin Gaston and Jorge Gomez have suggested that consistently effective communication is supported by the prevalence of organizational protocols which determine particular methods and mediums of communication in specific circumstances, such as emails, one-to-one meetings, group talks, etc. All team members should feel comfortable asking questions regarding the clarification of jobs and responsibilities, and they should feel free to make suggestions when they feel they can advance the team objectives. When a challenge or conflict arises, effective teams will engage and overcome it with effective communication, rather than avoiding the issues or participating in gossip.
Another part of a team’s performance depends on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its individual members. Research reveals some insights into team composition and performance. First, when the task entails considerable thought, such as solving a complex problem like reengineering an assembly line, high-ability teams, composed of mostly intelligent members, do better than lower-ability teams, especially when the workload is...

...1. Introduction
Analysis of the article, we have a certain understanding of the RepairingJobs That fail to Satisfy. The report focuses on how DrainFlow can improve in three areas: job structure, incentive structure, and hiring practices. The main contents include an introduction to the problems DrainFlow is encountering, analyses of the current business, and recommendations on how DrainFlow can overcome these issues to foster a long-term competitive advantage.
Goal and Recommendations
The goal of this proposal is to provide recommendations for a new job structure, a new incentive structure, and new hiring practices. The job structure recommendations will allow for more cross training between office workers and service providers. This will enrich all jobs at DrainFlow by adding different tasks, autonomy, and feedback. The new incentive structure will allow for flexible benefits and recognition. This is designed to motivate employees and improve customer service. Lastly, the new hiring practices will provide a repeatable solution for finding a cohesive set of new employees.
2. Satisfaction
The job characteristics model offers such a framework. It identifies five primary job characteristics, interrelationship, and impact on employee productivity, motivation, and satisfaction. (Hakman, Lawler,...

...into the team environment. It is also your chance to find out if you want to work for the company, so it is a two-way process.
2.1 Purpose of the Interview
The interview is the most critical component of the entire selection process. It serves as the primary means to collect additional information on an applicant. It serves as the basis in assessing an applicant's job-related knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is designed to decide if an individual should be interviewed further, hired, or eliminated from consideration.
An agency uses the interview not only to select new employees and determine a fit, but also to sell the agency and themselves to applicants and to create favorable public relations with potential customers. Applicants use the interview to market themselves and determine which offers to accept and reject.
As the interviewee, the main purposes of the interview are to:
* Communicate information about yourself, your experience and your abilities
* Seek further information about the position and the organization
* Evaluate the match between your needs and what the job offers
The main purposes of the interview for the interviewer are to gather relevant information about the candidate’s:
* Interview preparation - interest in and knowledge of the industry, the position and the organization
* Communication skills - oral presentation skills and the ability to interact with...

...﻿JOB DESIGN AND TECHNIQUES OF JOB DESIGN
JOB
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Types Of Job
There are a variety of jobs: full time, part time, temporary, odd jobs, seasonal, self-employment.
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Vignettes:
Joseph
Joseph is a 70 year old Jewish-American gay male who wants to meet with you to discuss low income housing options for him and possibly his partner. Your supervisor tells you that she is concerned that Joseph is in a violent relationship with his partner, Marcus, and wants you to assess how safe he feels living with Marcus at this time. Joseph appears very thin and you can see bruising on his forearms. This is your first meeting with Joseph and Marcus is not present.
LaShonda
LaShonda is a 32 year old African American female who was put on a 5150 hold last night after overdosing on pills. LaShonda was diagnosed with depression six months ago after being let go from her job. LaShonda told her group therapist this morning that she was forced to leave her job because she was black. She feels hopeless she will ever be able to work again because of her racial identity. She states because she cannot change the color of her skin, she wants to die.
Mr. Fahza
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...Duvie et. Al. Review of Education Institute of Education Journal, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Vol. 23. No.1. 137- 155
JOB SATISFACTION AS CORRELATES OF TEACHER
ABSENTEEISM IN RURAL PUBLIC SECONDARY
SCHOOL IN ABIA STATE
Duvie, Adanma N.
Department of Agricultural Education
Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike
and
Okorie, Florence U.
Staff School, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine job satisfaction variables as
correlates of teacher absenteeism in rural public secondary schools in Abia
State. The study is a descriptive survey based on a correlational design. The
population of study is 118 teachers in the rural public junior and senior
secondary schools of Abia State. Ikwuano, one of the oldest rural local
government areas of Abia State was purposefully selected having well
established schools and strong school traditions. Stratified sampling was
applied in the selection of the schools to include, boys and girls’ schools as
well as coeducational schools. The total population of teachers was used in
the study because of the number. The instrument used in the data collection
which went through item analysis comprised Job Satisfaction Questionnaire
(JSQ) and Teacher Absenteeism Questionnaire (TAQ). Stepwise multiple
regressions were applied in the analysis. The findings of the study revealed
that where teachers are not given...